Maria's Return
by CrazyDiceGuy
Summary: Maria wakes up on the ARK in the wrong time period... and the wrong body (rated T for some of the descriptions and the ending)
1. Chapter 1: Maria's Return

**Maria's Return**

I woke up to feeling of warmth surrounding me. I couldn't open my eyes, but is was OK. Some how I knew I was safe. Then I remembered. Shadow in that capsule, sending him away. Then the soldiers, and the pain. I felt the warmth drain from around me and my feet touched the floor. As the warmth resided, my legs took my weight, and I nearly collapsed. I braced myself against the walls with my hands and opened my eyes. It took a wile for them to adjust to the light, but eventually I was able to see. I was in one of the ARK's medi-pods. I must have passed out from the pain. It was then I realised what had happened. I'd been shot. The door opened with a hiss of steam and swung upward and I staggered out and nearly collapsed. I slumped against the wall of the chamber and slid down it. The floor and wall felt cold through my dress, though my hands were gloved for some reason, but that that was fine. The only thing I could think about was Shadow. Hopping he was all right I struggled to my feet and stumbled towards the computer with hopes of finding out where he'd ended up.

It was some time before I noticed. There were no mirrors in the medi-bay and the computers monitor was a projection. It wasn't until I was on the observation deck that I had the chance to notice my reflection. The ARK was just turning away from the sun rise over Mobius, and the darkness of space was overwhelmed by the observation deck's interior lights, effectively turning the window into a mirror. I nearly passed out again. I was wearing white gloves with blue rings at the cuffs. The rest of my clothes were similar to my old ones, but more stylised. My pale blue dress was knee length with a white stripe down the middle. My cardigan had been replaced with a dark blue coat that was open at the front and had white trim. The sleeves of the coat only went halfway between my shoulder and elbow, but puffed out a bit. My shoes had turned into boots that ended just bellow the knee. They were the colour of my drees with white souls and a thick white stripe running from the toes to the knee. My hair band seemed the same, however the same could not be said for me. My arms and legs were shorter and appeared to be the same length. My ams were bear, but my legs and torso were covered in yellow fur, the same colour my hair. My head was larger, my pointed ears were on the top now, and my hair had thickened into quills but was still soft and flexible. Most of it was down my back, but some cured at my shoulders. My eyes now took up most of my face now and were connected in the middle (though still seemed to function separately). My irises were now green. What can only be described as my muzzle was free of fur and my mouth seemed to be able to move from side to side on it. My nose had been reduced to a small black dot beneath my eyes. Overall I was shorter. My body felt more shaped and curvy, and it felt like my breasts had gotten bigger, but i couldn't quite tell.

I'd become a mobian hedgehog. I blacked out again.

When I awoke, my thoughts were once again consumed by Shadow. After looking around the ARK, it became evident that he, and for that matter anybody exempt myself, was not on bored. I went back to what used to be my room and accessed the ARK's mainframe. After looking through it awhile, I came across a file named "Project M". Opening it I discovered that Grandfather had had done this to me to save my life after a G.U.N. soldier had shot me. The only problem was the healing transformation takes a few years to complete. I sat back in my chair. "Years," I said to myself, glad to see my voice hadn't changed, but wondering how many had passed, "Years since I sent Shadow away, to save his life" The data on the project said Grandfather had created the liquid I was suspended in to stop me from ageing during the proses, meaning I was still 14, which was good, I suppose. I just had to find Shadow and make sure he was ok. Which means I was going to have to go down to the planet.

I had no idea how to pilot a shuttle, so had to use one of the remaining escape pods. There were plenty, but there was no guarantee I would land on the same continent as Shadow, or even on land at all. The landing coordinates the computer generated for Shadow were still loaded, which I thought was odd, before remembering the ARK had be deserted for 10 years. "Wait a minute" I stoped my self climbing in the escapee pod, "Shadow could have moved in 10 years" I went back to the control console to look at the map. No where stood out. I sighed. Then I noticed something on the map; a city I didn't recognise. It was labelled "Capital City". "Well, thats as good a place to start as any I suppose, and I can't stay here for the rest of my life" I entered the coordinates and got into the escape pod.

I landed just outside the city. The landing was surprisingly smooth, considering the speed of the fall. The pod touched down just next to a lake, and climbed out and immediately fell in the lake. I'd never learnt to swim, living on the ARK, and was pleasantly surprised to fin myself treading water perfectly in the deep lake. I swam to the other side and climbed out. The water ran off my fur and clothes and I was dry in seconds, "How odd" I said to myself. I started walking towards the city and broke out into a run at surprisingly high speed. I covered the few miles to the city in matter of minutes and went looking for the nearest person who might be able to help me.

I'd landed at sunrise, but it wasn't until midday did I find someone who knew Shadow. "Yeah, I know Shadow" The woman said almost seductively "What's it to you?"

"Well, I, um..." I stammered. The woman was a mobian bat. She was just taller than me, and had large ears and dazzling blue eyes. Her hair was short and white, but she didn't appear to have fur anywhere els on her body. She was quite thin and shapely, with long arms and legs and large breasts. She wore a tight black jump suite which left her arms and shoulders uncovered and had a pink heart shape over her chest. Her high heeled boots and gloves were long and white with pink cuffs. The boots had pink heart shaped designs on the toes. She wore pastel blue eye liner and black massacre. Her black wings were folded behind her back. I couldn't take my eyes off her.

I hadn't really thought about relationships until then, and even when I had, I'd only imagined myself with Shadow, but maybe that was weird considering I was an overlander. But this woman changed all that. Out of all the people, men and women, overlanders and mobians, that I'd seen over the last few hours, I hadn't given one of them a second glance, none of them had stood out, I could barley remember what most of them looked like, but she was something els...

"I, erm, I'm just an old friend" I said at last. She chuckled to herself a little.

"He must of met you on his travels then, no matter though. I'm Rouge the Bat, by the way"

"My name's Maria"

"Well, nice to meet you, Maria" she said, seeming a little nervous "Now lets go find Shadow"

I walked behind her so she wouldn't see me staring. We were heading to a large mountain on the other side of the city. Rouge had told me that was G.U.N. HQ and where she and Shadow worked and lived. If I thought that was odd, it didn't have time to sink in. I put my hand on my stomach as it growled loudly and I realised I hadn't eaten in several years. Rouge turned around "When was the last time you ate? That was quite loud."

"Sorry, I skipped breakfast"

"Lets get you something to eat then"

"I don't have any money..."

"It's on me"

We found a café and ordered lunch. It was very different from the food that we had on the ARK, but it was still delicious. Rouge payed, and we continued on to the mountain. I noticed all the overlanders were taller than us, but all the mobians were about our hight. It's not really something I'd thought about, probably because I'd grown up on the ARK with minimal contact with anybody and noticing it then I found it quite strange. But again my thoughts were interrupted when I walked into a mobian girl, literally.  
"Sorry" I piked up one of the bags she'd dropped. Rouge turned to see what was happening.

"Amy!" She exclaimed.

"Rouge!" Said the girl, standing up "What are you doing here?"

Rouge gestured to me "This one says she knows knows Shadow, so I'm taking her to him"

Amy brushed herself off. She wore a white trimmed red dress, red boots with a white stripe like mine, a red head band, and white gloves with gold rings at the cuffs. She was shorter, and presumably younger, than I was and she seemed less curved and had smaller breasts. Her fur was pink, but her arms were bare and her hair was short and curled forward at the bottom. She had a short fringe and bright green eyes. She was a hedgehog like me. I handed her the bag I'd piked up.

"Thank you," she said, "So, what's your name?"

"Maria" I replied.

That seemed to make her nervous and she glanced at Rouge who nodded reassuringly. Amy recovered quickly and continued, "What a nice name. How do you know Shadow?"  
"I'm just an old friend"

Rouge quickly changed the subject "Why are you in Capital City then, Amy?"

"Well, the Freedom Fighters are on a diplomatic mission for the Republic of Acorn, and Sally sent me and Bunny to get supplies, but It looks like I've lost Bunny" she sighed.

"Well your welcome to join us on our way to Guardian Mountain"

"That is where Sally told us to meet her, and I'm sure that's where Bunny will go, so OK" replied Amy.

"All right then, that fine by you, Maria?"

"Fine by me!"

"Then what are we waiting for, lets go" Rouge said as we set off again.

We arrived at Guardian Mountain just after 2:00PM, Amy had given me a watch that her friend Tails had made. The entire mountain had been hollowed out and replaced with metal corridors and electric lights.  
"Wow, this pace kind of reminds me of the ARK, and I was expecting the bace to be on the mountain, not inside it!" I exclaimed as I ran ahead.

Behind me, Rouge and Amy looked puzzled "ARK? You don't think..?" Amy whispered to Rouge.

"No, she died 50 years ago..." Rouge whispered back.

I didn't think anything of that at the time, except noticing my hearing had improved. Wile I was distracted, I ran into the G.U.N. Commander. Commander Abraham Tower was twice as tall as me and had shoulders three times the width of mine. His arms were thick and he seemed well toned. His hair was grey and had different coloured eyes, one brown, the other blue. He wore a dark grey uniform with military medals pined to his chest. He seemed familiar to me, but theres no way I could have met him before. He must have been in his late 50s at least.

"Hello s-sir" I said stepping back.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" The Commander said threatening, it was a tone I'm sure I recognised. I Looked at Rouge for reassurance, she nodded.

"My n-name's Maria, s-sir. I'm here t-to see a-agent Shadow"

"Maria, hmm..." The Commander muttered, "You seem familiar, have we met?"

"T-to be honest, sir, I felt that as well, but I can't think where we could have met..."

"Hmm, no matter. So, you're here to see Shadow, then? He's my best agent." He raised his hand and spoke into a wrist communicator " Agent Shadow?"

"Yes sir?" I heard Shadow's voice from the speaker.

"You have a visitor"

A few minutes later Shadow stepped out of the lift, and when he saw me, his eyes widened, "Ma-Maria?!"

"Shadow!"

"What!" Amy and Rouge said in unison.

"Wait, Maria, is it you?" the Commander asked.

"What do you mean, I've never met you before?"

"Maria, its me, I'm Abraham Tower, I lived on the ARK"

I recoiled slightly, "But that was only a few years ago, wasn't it?"

"No Maria" said Shadow as he approached me, "That was over 50 years ago now"

"But..." I collapsed into Shadow's arms.

My eyes flickered open and I had to squint through the bright artificial lights. I was lying in a hospital bed. A sign on the wall read "G.U.N. med-centre Room 001". Shadow was sitting next to the bed. I yawned and he looked up.

"Maria, are you all right?" he said, and I could hear the concern in his voice.

"I-I think so, but my head hurts"

"How did you do it?" He asked.

"Do what?"

"Survive. You were shot in the back Maria. You should have died then and there. But you survived, for 50 years. How? And why are you a hedgehog?"

"Well..." I told him the story, how I woke up, discovered I'd turned into a hedgehog, and then gone looking for answers. I told him about Grandfathers last project, and about how the transformation took a few years to compleat. "But there's still one thing I don't understand Shadow"

"And what's that?"

"Why did it take 50 years instead of just a few?"

He thought for a wile, and then started chuckling to himself."What is it?" I asked.

"2 years ago, Dr. Eggman, the Professor's grandson, your cousin, I suppose, rescued me from a secret Government lab. I took him to the ARK, which had been abandoned for nearly 50 years. He restored the power. That must have started your transformation proses, but how you lasted that long without ageing or dying still doesn't make sense."

We thought for a wile, then I realised something. "The liquid in the pod!"

"What?" Shadow looked confused.

"It prevented me from ageing, so it must have some sort of chaos power to stop the flow of time"

"Interesting, did the Professor design that?"

"I think so, why?"

Shadow didn't answer, he just sat there with a troubled look of thought on his face. Eventually, he stood and walked to the door. Before he left he turned to me and said, "Wait for me here, I'll be back soon."

"Wait, where are you going?" I asked as he stepped out.

He smiled, "To find some answers."

And with that, he left.


	2. Chapter 2: Shadow's Answers

Shadow's Answers

As I left Maria's room, I had to restrain myself from running to Commander Tower. I had to know the truth. Was this girl really Maria? She looked like Maria (aside from the fact she was a hedgehog). I couldn't help but feel like it was her, though. The moment I saw her, it was like I knew, just from the look in her eyes. Still, something felt wrong. Despite the fact Maria had come back, I had a strange feeling of dread and urgency, as if something terrible was about to happen. I was so lost in thought, I walked past the Commander's office. I smiled at myself for being as absent minded as Maria, but shook myself back to reality. I went back and knocked on the Commander's door. "Come in" he said from inside. I opened the door. "Ah, agent Shadow. What can I do for you?"

"Sir, I'd like permission to go to the ARK"

"And why's that?" He said sceptically.

I hesitated, "Personal reasons, Sir"

The Commander laughed, something I'd never seen him do before. "I thought so. Fine, permission granted, but how do you intend to get there?"

I smiled "I'm going to need a chaos emerald"

I retrieved one of the chaos emeralds from the armoury and went to the tech room to prep for the 'mission'. When I got there, I found Commander Tower. "Sir?" I asked.

"Shadow, I'm coming with you," he replied.

"Are you sure Sir? You haven't done fieldwork in years."

"I'm sure Shadow. I need these answers as much as you," he came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder, "and I don't think you should do this alone"

I looked up at him and nodded, "Thank you, Sir." We climbed onto the teleportation platform, "You ready for this, Sir?"

"Do it"

I nodded and threw the emerald in the air and caught it again, "Chaos Control!", I shouted. The emerald glowed, and we were gone.

The light cleared and we dropped to the deck. I looked up to see where we had ended up. We were in the computer room, "Last time I was here, this place was crumbling around me," I sighed at the memories, "I'm surprised this place is still stable..."

"We saw to that" the Commander said.

I turned to him, "What do you mean?"

"G.U.N. restored this place after Black Doom Attacked, with the intention of using it as a research facility. It never became operational but everything was repaired." He went over to the main console and started typing. I started to explore the immediate area.

"I never really spent much time in this part of the ARK," I said, more for my benefit than the Commanders. "Wait, is that the..." I ran to a door that was jammed open and looked through. It was one of the escape pod rooms, the one Maria had sent me away from, where she'd saved my life. I stepped back from the door from the shear force of the memory.

The Commander looked up, saying "Shadow, you'll want to see this."

"What is it?" I asked walking over to him.

"It's Professor Gerald's research notes on 'Project M'," he told me, "though something doesn't seem right."

"What's this?" I asked, referring to a file named 'Shadow', "Maria didn't mention seeing it"

I opened the file. It was a video of the Professor, "Ah, Shadow, so Project M was successful then?" he asked me. I said nothing, waiting for the recording to move on. "Come on Shadow, I don't have all day! Was Project M successful?"

"Wait, are you talking to me?" I said, bewildered.

"Of corse I'm talking to you! How many other people do you know called Shadow?"

"He makes a good point" said the Commander.

I glared at him, then turned back to the Professor, "What is this, Professor? How are you doing this?"

"Ah, yes. Excellent question, Shadow. I'm using Chaos Energy to transmit a signal through time back to me. What you're listening to is a recording of my half of the conversation, wile I'm listening to a signal of you from the future!" the Professor explained.

"Professor, about Project M..." I began to ask.

"Listen Shadow, I know it's flawed, and that it takes nearly 20 years, and will turn her into a hedgehog, but she will survive. It should even cure her of her disease!"

"Yes, Professor, but..."

"Admittedly, I had to use bio-matter from those aliens but..."

"Open up, Professor!" said someone on the Professor's end.

"Shadow, they've found me. Just tell me, is Maria safe? Is she alive?" the Professor asked desperately.

"Professor I-" there was an explosion an the video ended. I looked back to the Commander.

"Well, that was revealing," the Commander said thoughtfully, "You don't think he used Black Alien DNA, do you?"

"Black Alien," I said quietly, "No, I don't think so. I would have felt it if she was..."

"Are you OK, Shadow?" the Commander asked, concerned.

At first, I didn't answer, too lost in thought. Then I remembered something the Professor had said, "Wait a minute, did the Professor say 20 years?"

"Yes, why? Wait! That doesn't add up..." We kept looking through the information until we found a map showing where Maria had been hidden. "Yes, I remember," the Commander said "That area of the ARK had a reserve power generator capable of running for 15 years without input from the main power core, and was left almost untouched by the Black Arms"

"And considering the Professor said 'almost 20 years', that means the 15 years on reserve power, and the 2 years after Dr Eggman restored the ARK, would be enough time to compleat the transformation."

"Lets head back to HQ," I suggested, "we can find out what alien DNA the Professor used from there"

"Your sure it's not Black Alien?" the Commander sounded unsure.

"No, but I, have a feeling"

We materialised in the control room. "I'm going to the med-centre" I said, leaving the room.

"Shadow," the Commander put his hand on my shoulder, "if it is Black Alien..."

"It won't make a difference, she's still Maria"

Since G.U.N. didn't have any Black Alien DNA, the scientists had to isolate a strand from a sample of my blood. Wile it was being processed, I went to see Maria. She was still in the med-centre, but I herd voices from her room, the they turned to something I didn't recognise. I opened the door, and my eyes widened at what I saw.


	3. Chapter 3: Complex Relationships

**WARNING **

**Adult themes are heavily implied. Age limit of 15+ advised.**

Complex Relationships

After Shadow had left for the ARK, and Amy and the freedom fighters had gone back to New Mobotropolis, I was bored. I was wandering around G.U.N. HQ with nothing to do when I found myself in the med-centre. Then I remembered the girl who I had helped from earlier today, and I decided to visit her. "Why not," I said to myself, "I've got nothing better to do." I walked to the door of the room I'd seen Shadow leave and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Maria's voice answered from inside.

"It's me" I said.

"R-Rouge, okay, err, come in" she said, clearly flustered.

I opened the door and stepped inside. he room was small, with only a single bed, a chair and a small table with a lamp on it. Maria was wearing the same clothes she had been earlier, though jugging by her hair she'd been asleep awhile. I smiled at her bed-head and sat down in the chair. Maria arcwardrly perched herself on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall next to my head. It was obvious from the first time we met that she had a little crush on me, and clearly she didn't know how to deal with it. I blushed as I caught myself staring at her and decided it was time to break the awkward science that had fallen over the room.

"Are you all right?" I asked her, "You had me and Amy worried when you passed out back there"

She smiled slightly, "Yes, I'm fine, thank you"

"So your the Maria we've all heard so much about" I said, matter-of-factly.

"What, what have you heard?" she asked nervously.

"Well, Shadow never talks about you directly, but everyones heard him mumble about you, or sometimes he stares off into the distance and refuses to tell us what's on his mind. There was a time when you could find him of the peak of Guardian Mountain like that, and the whole city swears they've heard someone shout your name from the peak before. Shadow denies it of corse but..." I stopped when she got upset. "ARE you shore your OK?' I asked her again.

She was almost in tears, "Y-yes, I'm fine, really"

I moved to sit next to her, "No you'r not. I can tell, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, I just wanted you to know that he cares, and that he's been thinking about you for the past 50-or-so years."

She looked at me, tears starting to form in the corers of her eyes. I looked back at her with sympathy and she threw her arms around me. It took me my surprise, but eventually I accepted the embrace and wrapped my arms around her, "It's all right" I confronted her. She was breathing heavily and I could feel her breasts pushing against mine.

"You donn't understand" she sobbed, "I just left Shadow here for 50 years. What kind of a person dose that?"

"Hey" I said, breaking the embrace and taking her by the shoulders, "It's not your fault. Whatever happened to you, I'm sure you didn't mean it to, and you saved his life. If you hadn't put him in that escape pod and sent him to Earth, he would have been killed. Thinking about it, without shadow, non of us would be here now. Shadows saved the world so many times now, like the time the aliens attacked..." I rambled on a bit, but I think I got my point across because she stopped crying. We started trading stories about Shadow, lying side-by-side on the small bed, arms folded behind our heads. I was telling Maria about the time Shadow and I had fought a giant god-panda with the help of our robot friend Omega, when she sat up. "Whats wrong?" I asked sitting up as well. We both stood up.

"R-Rouge, d-do you remember when we first met?" she said stammering a little as she dose when she gets nervous.

"Of corse, It was only a few hours ago" my wings started flare and I felt myself lifting off the ground a little.

"Well, with the way you dress and, well you came across as kind of a..." she hesitated, like she didn't know what word to use. Her chest flared slightly, emphasising her breasts.

"A bitch? Yeah, get that a lot. I'm not one for first impressions" I said, blushing a little.

"Well, now that I know you better, I think you're a really nice person, and I was wondering..." she was blushing heavily now.

I smiled, "Yes" I said, pulling her closer to me, "I know what your going to say, and yes" and with that, we kissed.

Thats when the door opened. We both opened our eyes and turned towards the door. Shadow was standing there, wide eyed and with the most confused expression on his face I'd ever seen. He stepped back, closed the door, then opened it again. Maria and I didn't move. We just stood there, holding each other, not shore what to do. Neither was Shadow. He just stood there staring. HIs expression was blank now, his arms hung at his side. He was holding a something in his hand.

"Shadow," Maria said last. She went over to him and hugged him. He remained limp, and staring at me. She held him at arms length, looking into his blank, staring eyes. "Shadow" she repeated.

"What is this?" he whispered.

"Shadow I-" I started.

"How long?"

"Just now" I said.

Then he did something unexpected. He smiled. His face softened, and he looked at Maria. "I can't leave you alone for two hours, can I?"

I was shocked. "Your ok with this?" I asked.

"Of corse," he said calmly. "On one condition"

"Whats that?" Maria asked.

Then he did something els unexpected. He kissed her. It startled her, but then she accepted it. Then he did something even more unexpected. He broke his kiss with Maria, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me into a kiss. That startled both of us, but then I accepted it. He broke the kiss. We all understood. It was going to be strange, being in a three way relationship, but we could make it work. Maria kissed me this time. Yeah, this was going to work.

"Don't you think we should go somewhere with a bigger bed?" I asked.

The End


	4. Epilogue

Epilogue

The thing Shadow was holding was a blood test. He told me that he found out that Grandfather had used alien DNA in my new genetic code, and that he anted to know if it was Black Alien or not. It turned out not to be, but it did bare a striking resemblance.

"It's defiantly not Black Alien," the G.U.N. doctor had said, "but it dose seem to have the same genes as the Black Aliens. It's strange..." He continued to talk about genetics and aliens for a wile. Shadow and Rouge seemed to understand, and they explained what they could to me later.

"It means you have the same powers I do," Shadow said.

"I might have to look into getting me some alien DNA then..." Rouge joked, with a certain sadness in her eyes. She knew this meant we were both immortal and she wasn't.

I was determined to change that.

The Real End


End file.
